The Best of The Big Ticket Festival

This year’s event was year four of X102.9’s annual pilgrimage for Florida’s alt-rock nation; and there are rumors that changes in city ordinances could make it the last. Hopefully, it’s the typical local news’ blown-out-of-proportion, attention grabbing crap that dominates so many newscasts these days, because this festival is an important event for we local Rock And Roll Animals at RARA’s Farm.

So, some thoughts this year:

Best Act: There were some great sets: Frank Turner, A Day To Remember, The 1975, but everything else paled in comparison to Twenty One Pilots. This energetic, frenetic duo spent more time in the crowd than on the solid footing of the stage, sounded great, interacted with the crowd, and have clearly grown as artists since last year, when they were, um, the Best Act… Yup, two years in a row…(Check out our review of the 2012 Big Ticket here)

Best Song: “It’s Complicated” A Day To Remember. The crowd was already ratcheted up for these Ocala natives who were tearing through a powerful set. Then, they were pushed over the edge when lead singer Jeremy McKinnon crawled inside a big ball and sang this one from inside the ball, as the crowd bounced him around the park. Pretty damn cool!

Best Setlist: Lots of great songs and creative selections throughout the day, but lets nod the head to Jimmy Eat World. Every song was good, plenty of hits, and they threw in “Last Christmas,” the only holiday song during the day.

Best New Artist: (New to me anyway) – I really enjoyed Nothing More. Quite frankly, their music is a little rougher than my normal preference, but I liked their sound, and loved their stage show. Every band member of this foursome out of San Antonio made the same kind of impression this year that Twenty One Pilots made last year. Entertaining band…

Hottest Chick in a band: Incomplete. We saw seventeen bands throughout the day and every single performer had a Y chromosome. Apparently all of the talented Alt-Rock women were in the area earlier this year at the Coastline Festival.

Best Topless Moment: Nope, not what you think. In fact, I didn’t see any female breasts, but think there were at least five lead singers who performed at least part of their set topless. We saw shirtless performers from Pepper, The 1975, Black Bottom Lighters, Twenty One Pilots and our winner Frank Turner. Why him? Because after 60 plus shows, his shirt was grimier than the sheets at an hourly motel, and it needed to go…

Frank Turner and the Tour Flag that traveled the country.

Most Engaging Performer: Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull offered up some funny one liners, but this is Frank Turner’s specialty. He was funny, engaging and entertaining throughout his set, and his lyrics were witty and creative. He’s also a great storyteller and I loved hearing the recap of the Tour banner that a fan brought to a show in Cleveland and henceforth has somehow managed, with no help from the band, to be at every show on the tour.

Best Food: I have no clue, but the funnel cake sucked and the $7 hot dog was worse. The pizza, at least, was edible. Let’s give this one to Monster, not only because it was free, but I actually liked the taste of their Rehab offering.

December Rock Music Calendar

Our typical slow December doldrums are upon us, but a few great shows. The Thermals and Alabama Shakes hit all of the cities in our coverage area, but the big events are two festivals with tremendous line-ups the weekend of 12/7 and 12/8 in Tampa and Jacksonville areas. Get the details below.

12/15 – Goo Goo Dolls, House of Blues. A boy named Goo headlines the Mix 105.1 All I Want For Christmas show.

12/19 – Tegan and Sara, Plaza Live Orlando

12/20 – Thomas Wynn & The Believers, Jessie’s (Winter Haven)

12/28 – The Supervillains, The West End (Sanford)
12/28 – Blaine the Mono, Violet, Leaving Haven, and Maybe If You Hit It, House of Blues. Blaine the Mono has free tickets for the show, and all Blaine proceeds are being donated to the Fight for Ryder Foundation.

12/08 – The Big Ticket Festival Presented by X102.9. We attended this festival in 2012 and it is just a great event (check out this review for a taste), and again features a killer line-up. This is a can’t miss show, Jacksonville! Stone Temple Pilots, Thirty Seconds to Mars, A Day To Remember, Jimmy Eat World, Dirty Heads, Pepper, Manchester Orchestra, Twenty One Pilots, Sleeping With Sirens, The 1975, Saints of Valory, and the absolutely amazing Frank Turner!

12/08 – Huey Lewis and the News, Florida Theatre. See a recent concert review of Huey for a taste of what is in store.

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RARA's Farm is always looking for talented writers and photographers. We do this as a passion for rock 'n roll, and sadly the compensation sucks, but the experience is great! Interested? rarasfarm at gmail dot com